Bayshore rebounds to trounce DeSoto

After one of the biggest collapses in high school football last week, Bayshore High found the right way to rebound from a painful defeat — win a district game.

The Bruins did that Friday night, spoiling DeSoto County’s homecoming with a 33-14 victory over the Bulldogs in a Class 5A-District 13 contest.

Wesley Jackson accounted for four touchdowns for the Bruins (2-4, 1-1 in 5A-13). He ran in the first and last score and threw a pair of TD passes in the second quarter as Bayshore broke the game open.

“For his first year as a quarterback, he has a tremendous arm,” first-year Bruins coach Elijah Freeman said. “It’s been a matter of putting it in the right place.”

Jackson had 212 yards of offense, including 144 passing yards.

Quarterback Kari Williams ran in one TD and threw the other for DeSoto (1-4, 0-2).

Bayshore rebounded nicely after squandering a 31-0 lead against rival Palmetto last week. It hurt because most of the Bruins knew the Tigers players.

“It showed that you have to play the full 48 minutes,” Freeman said. “This time we did that.”

Since both teams lost their district openers two weeks ago, this was essentially an elimination contest.

Tied at 7-7 after one quarter, Bayshore started to do everything right and DeSoto did not. A short Bulldog punt helped Bayshore break the tie.

On the second play, Jackson found Obi Tarwoe open in the left flat. Tarwoe turned the short pass into a 61-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown, outrunning four DeSoto defenders with 10:09 left in the first half.

Tarwoe intercepted a tipped Kari Williams pass, and that set up Dereck Williams’ 2-yard run with 7:30 left in the half. The PAT kick was missed, so the Bruins’ lead remained 20-7.

A penalty stunted DeSoto’s next drive, and the Bruins worked the clock nicely. The key play was a 56-yard pass from Jackson to Chase Richardson. The same hookup worked on a 9-yard scoring pass with 48.7 seconds left in the half.

That was the last of four straight drives that became touchdowns for the Bruins. They had a 27-7 lead at intermission.

The third period was a defensive struggle. The Bruins maintained their bulge, then added to it after sniffing out a fake punt early in the fourth.

Jackson took it in on the next play and the Bruins had essentially put it away swith 10:14 to go.

The Bulldogs struck quickly as Kari Williams hit Dequan Richardson from 35 yards out with 8:38 left. But DeSoto got no more and Bayshore ran out the clock.

“We’re still learning every week, taking the good with the bad,” Freeman said. “In the grand scheme of things, the district games are the ones that matter.”

The Bulldogs got off to a good start early, stopping Bayshore on fourth down on the opening drive. They went 70 yards in eight plays, with Kari Williams running it in from 4 yards out.

It took just over two minutes for Bayshore to respond with its own long drive. The Bruins went 62 yards in six plays, starting with a 42-yard gallop by Jamar Johnson.

Jackson took it in from the 1, tying the game with three minutes left in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs never sniffed the lead again.

Last modified: October 4, 2013
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